Good evening Negative Soundbyters! It is a balmy Sunday evening; I have our French doors open and the air is very still and peaceful; punctuated by some far-off traffic noise, the odd muffled voice and the crazy assed bumble bee that is drunk from sucking pollen all day and now finds itself constantly flying into the glass panels of our roof lantern. Buzz! Hit Glass. Panic. Buzz! Hit Glass. Panic. I can’t rescue it, so hopefully it will work out that the doors are an easier path to freedom than trying to penetrate reinforced glass!
I don’t know about you guys but I had a fantastic weekend. It was just fun. You know when you have those moments where nothing matters too much other than just enjoying yourself.
It started on Friday evening with Mrs H and I enjoying a fine Indian curry in Balham. I asked the Indian Service Ambassador to bring some Vindaloo sauce on the side as I was interested in taking my heat “taste test” to the next level. Apparently it can cause you to stand upside down in the shower if you don’t show it the requisite amount of respect, but I have to say it didn’t blow me away as much as I would have expected. Yes, I reached for my Mongoose lager to douse a few flames but my bowels stayed calm throughout and I didn’t find myself rushing for the porcelain. Not that that is necessarily a sign of a quality Vindaloo, but if you are not used to it an explosion is possible. I asked my Indian Service Ambassador what he thought of this version of the Vindaloo; he seemed a bit dismissive as if it had been sanitised for the English palate. Sanitised or not, I feel like I passed: next time a Vindaloo main course with a decent line of sight on the men’s - just in case!
Saturday I watched the Lions hold off the All Blacks in the morning, hit the gym in the afternoon and then Mrs H and I went to the U2 concert in the evening. (You can tell Baba H hasn’t arrived yet. Let me re-write that sentence rolling forward a week-or-two: A bleary-eyed Mrs H fed Baba H in the morning. I attempted to change Baba H’s nappy, but having had only 4 hours sleep in the past two nights that proved a struggle. Nappy sorted, Baba H had a nap, then woke up, cried for about half an hour (just for the crack), and then went back to sleep. Mr and Mrs H don’t have any plans for the rest of the day – or year!)
The U2 concert was brilliant fun although I think that the people around us – and even Mrs H - must have thought that I had dropped a speed ball-or-three such was my exuberance and expressive vocals during all my old favourites. I proved that it is possible to play air guitar, the drums and jump around like a loon – all at the same time. I am never going to be a musician but I got close to the next best thing; a fan amongst 60 odd thousand other fans all caught up in a bit of U2 magic. Bono is not everyone’s cup of tea but entertaining runs in his blood and on that cracking summer’s evening the band did not disappoint. I was buzzing all the way home. Baba H did about three somersaults not ever having heard that sort of noise before, but Mrs H handled it like a pro although she did have a slight sense of humour failure when we read a sign saying it would be a 2.5 hour wait for the train to take us home! Thankfully that wait did not materialise and my buzz lasted well into Sunday!
On Sunday a number of families in our road got together for a braai and a table tennis tournament! There was also a considerable supply of Pimm’s and Lemonade which meant the table tennis was of variable quality, but it was a day of laughing, chatting, hanging out, exercising (drinking arms that is!), eating and drinking. This was a community in action; not necessarily bound by a duty to get something done – more just a genuine interaction among people, both young and old. It felt great to be a part of it. I have connected more with the people on my street in the last year than I did with my neighbours in my block of flats where I lived for ten years. I did not make enough effort then, but certainly with Baba H coming and the importance of fostering and nurturing this community that he will be born into, I will try harder.
And on that rather solemn pledge, I bid you all good night!
Big Love
Hoddy X
Pic of the Week
U2!
